While researching for this blog, I came across this website. By going to this website you can click on the different dots on the map and see where the most recent earthquakes (in the past 7 days) have been. There have been many earthquakes of small magnitude that have occured in Utah lately that no one has really/luckily felt! I had no idea. Thankfully they haven’t really been big earthquakes.

This was somewhat of a wake-up call to me because it made me realize that we shouldn’t just be anticipating one huge earthquake in the near future…we may experience anything from a minor to moderate earthquake before we ever experience a big one. Check it out!

Now for perhaps the most important part of disaster preparedness–72 hour kits. They are a pain to assemble, but will be extremely useful and needed in the event of an emergency. The following list is provided by Ready America to help individuals and families assemble their own 72 hour kits.

Note to students: To avoid becoming overwhelmed, focus on gathering only the items in the first list. They are the most important. The items in the second list can be gathered over time.

Recommended Items To Include In A Basic Emergency Supply Kit:

Water, one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation

Food, at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food

Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both

Flashlight and extra batteries

First Aid Kit

Whistle to signal for help

Dust Mask, to help filter contaminated air and plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place

Sleeping bag or warm blanket for each person. Consider additional bedding if you live in a cold-weather climate.

Complete change of clothing including a long sleeved shirt, long pants and sturdy shoes. Consider additional clothing if you live in a cold-weather climate.

Household chlorine bleach and medicine dropper – When diluted nine parts water to one part bleach, bleach can be used as a disinfectant. Or in an emergency, you can use it to treat water by using 16 drops of regular household liquid bleach per gallon of water. Do not use scented, color safe or bleaches with added cleaners.

Fire Extinguisher

Matches in a waterproof container

Feminine supplies and personal hygiene items

Mess kits, paper cups, plates and plastic utensils, paper towels

Paper and pencil

Books, games, puzzles or other activities for children

If you would prefer to actually buy a 72 hour kit instead of assembling one on your own, visit sites such as Ready Solutions and the Red Cross.

Be sure to place these emergency kits in a location where they will be easily accessible in case of an emergency (i.e. in a closet by the front door).

**There are other items that can be added to this list, but the lists here are according to Ready America.

Under your bed store an old pair of tennis shoes in case of some sort of natural disaster. This way they will be readily available. In one of the shoes place a flashlight, in the other shoe place a whistle. The flashlight is for obvious reasons, and the whistle is so that in case you are trapped or need help, you can blow your whistle so that someone can hopefully hear you.

Some people suggest placing these items in a bag and securing them to your bed somehow–this way these items will almost always be readily available in case of an emergency. This Survival Mom also has many helpful suggestions on how to prepare for an earthquake.

I grew up in Texas, so I’ve experienced my fair share of power outages due to tornadoes. I always thought power outages were sort of exciting, although scary. Naturally, my parents would bring out candles and light them throughout our house. Somehow they were always able to find them in the dark though–they got kind of lucky. What if there was an earthquake, followed by and immediate power outage, and you weren’t able to find your candles and matches? Luckily, technology has improved greatly and there are many new resources out there.

A little while ago my dad discovered some flashlights called Energizer Weather Ready Rechargeable LED Flashlights. These rechargeable flashlights are made to stay plugged into electric wall outlets (in each room, preferably) and in the event of a power outage, the flashlight will immediately come on (if you have it on the right setting). This way you won’t have to search for your candles/matches/lighters/flashlights/batteries that never seem to be in the right place, etc, in the complete dark. You should all go out and purchase one today!

In addition to the above hyperlink, these flashlights can also be purchased at Amazon and Walmart.

Oops, not that kind of hunt…don’t you miss childhood sometimes? 🙂 I do.

This is an activity my family did for FHE one time. We were put in pairs and had to answer each of these questions with our partner by running all around the house. This post will mostly pertain to those of you who may be going home for the summer or have a family of your own. Perhaps you can share this idea with your parents/family so that they can think about the different parts of these questions and see if they too are prepared. If you live in an apartment with roommates, maybe you can practice evacuating your apartment and establishing a meeting place outside. 🙂 Or perhaps more of these questions than you think can somewhat apply to your living condition and you can review them.

Emergency Preparedness Scavenger Hunt

Where are the 72 hour kits located? How many do we have? Where is dad and mom’s 72 hour kit?

Where is each individual toilet water shut off? Where is the main water shut off for the house? When would we use it?

What is the name of our alarm company? What is its phone number? What is our code for a false alarm?